Rebirth of La Cira - Infantas

abarrelfull wrote on 08 May 2012 06:25
Tags:

Latest News

• Want a weekly review of refining news?

• This Week in Refining
• RSS Feed

September 6, 2005

Injection of investment and technology into the country's oldest field

This project is part of the recovery of mature fields in Colombia, a component in the strategy of the National Government and Ecopetrol aimed at turning around the decline in production and postponing the loss of self-sufficiency in oil.

La Cira-Infantas was discovered in the early 20th century and reached peak production in the 1940's, when it produced nearly 60,000 barrels per day. Today, in its decline phase, the field produces 5,400 barrels per day, which accounts for almost 1% of Colombia's total production.

The project seeks to increase the field's recovery factor, which is to increase the quantity of oil that can be extracted from the subsoil. Until now, the camp has produced almost 740 million barrels.

Considerable investment and incorporation of new technologies is required for carrying out the project. Ecopetrol therefore began a process in July 2003 of selecting a partner, to which it invited eight international companies. The project's complexity meant that technical, economic, commercial and environmental studies had first be carried out over a two-year period before it could be finalized today in the form of a contract with Occidental Andina, an internationally recognized company in the operation of mature fields.

Based on the inherent risks of a project of this kind, it will be carried out in three phases. The first two involve doing pilot projects in small areas of the field in order to verify its feasibility; the project's comprehensive execution depends entirely on success in these tests.

Ecopetrol will continue to be the operator of field production activities and Occidental Andina will execute whatever investment is required by the project. This means that the risk from the first phases will be assumed entirely by our partner, who will invest at least 80 million U.S. dollars. The level of investment will significantly increase if the project becomes more feasible during its development stage.

In addition to its contributions to the petroleum industry in Colombia, the project is an opportunity to stimulate development in the country as a whole and in the Magdalena Medio region, thanks to the increase in production that would go to Ecopetrol as well as the benefits from royalties, taxes, generation of indirect and direct employment and the provision of goods and services.

The La Cira-Infantas is a project of public interest, in which the rights of neighboring communities will be respected in accordance with applicable environmental and industrial security parameters, within the guidelines established under Law.

• Rebirth of La Cira - Infantas

---